Wow, very good. It appears to be in great condition. Thanks for posting the pictures up. I'd be curious to learn a little about any history of this car, dates of operation or anything else. You can see restored versions of these same cars used on the No 9 Mine Tour in Lansford. From what Chris tells me, at least one of them came from the B&M Tunnel.

Joined: Fri Jul 15, 2005 2:34 pmPosts: 6906Location: Within 60 Miles of the Northern Anthracite Field

yea, ill have to try to find out some info, i have a contact who worked at b&m in the 80s. ill give him a try. yea no. 9 were only allowed to take one of the mantrip cars, there was 2. then they had to make their other one. lucky for us ill have to get one up of lansfords tour train, the one on their site is crappy.

Frank, I might even suggest the opposite, that by showing off hi-res shots of show mines, they would look more attractive. However, maybe you wouldn't want show everything, just some teaser shots. While I'm thinking of it, it's about time to put more pictures of on the Sterling Mine slideshow...

_________________"If you thought old, abandoned mines were only in the west, then you haven't been to IronMiners.com!"

Honestly, having an attractive slide show of a show mine would be a great benefit to the mine. It would peak up peoples interest at a safe place where people can see examples of some of the stuff on this site and get an idea on what there is to expect. I find it difficult to spoil any mine by showing pictures of it ahead of time. Its adds to part of the experience, as even when you are down there, you never see everything.

Joined: Fri Jul 15, 2005 2:34 pmPosts: 6906Location: Within 60 Miles of the Northern Anthracite Field

ok guys need an opinion. ive been tossing this idea around see what you think. ok so i was thinking of taking the "box" off the mantrip car. seperating it from the frame and axles underneath. i have an extra set of 36" axles, wheels and bearing blocks and was toying around the idea of building another wooden flat car and putting the top of the mantrip car on top of it. it would look just like our coal car but remove the coal box and put on a people box it is easily removable and this would not be perminant. it would bolt to the wooden flat car then could be removed and bolted back onto the original undercarage if ever needed. if i built a wooden bottom with inside wheels, it would look older, match the other stuff we have and are getting and be at least 1 foot lower in clearance. which isnt that important in the back yard but you know........ anyways, i know theres something about keeping stuff original but this is a newer piece of equipment and theres really no historical background to it. the other thing like i said is that this will not be perminant and could easliy be put back to original. well kind of easily. but it would be fun to design and build our own mine car from parts of a bunch? what do you guys think? i think we should do it and it will look alot better than a newer car with all our older stuff.

I think that it would be pretty neat actually to have a second "inside wheel" design and be able to switch back and fourth. plus, it would be cool to have a bottem with chain link hook ups like the other stuff instead of railroad connectors. ... I think it would be a good project.

Joined: Fri Jul 15, 2005 2:34 pmPosts: 6906Location: Within 60 Miles of the Northern Anthracite Field

yea well it wouldnt be a switch back and forth as we would need equip to lift it but if we ever wanted to put it back on we would be able to, thats what i was trying to say. i think it would look cool. and be a fun project.

I don't know ... To me it may look a little mixed up if you did that. You will have a steel box man car on a wooden frame.

Did Hudson or Pennsylvania Coal company (or any others) have any wooden man cars? Maybe you would be able to get an idea from there and build one. With your source of Hudson Coal cars and parts, I'd bet you could make something which looked pretty good.

Joined: Fri Jul 15, 2005 2:34 pmPosts: 6906Location: Within 60 Miles of the Northern Anthracite Field

might be able to pull it off? ha we can do anything.... insert devious laughter. this was contimplated after sitting there looking at the 2 of them side by side. it wouldnt look silly as most of the height is in that frame underneath. i think it would actually look good. but it wouldnt be a replica of anything it would be our own brew. i think it would be cool. as for gregs question. no in the northern field there were no mantrip cars. the mines closed before that law came about, so the men usually rode in empty coal cars. or a very few had coal cars with benches in them. theres still one at lackawanna.

Joined: Fri Jul 15, 2005 2:34 pmPosts: 6906Location: Within 60 Miles of the Northern Anthracite Field

ok, i dont know why i though i would get clearance but now looking at the coal car next to the mantrip, the top of the frame on each is about the same. i guess we will leave it alone. plus it has a sweet suspension i guess. i do want to add wooden bumpers to the end and pull out the connectors to add hook and chain attachments. i cant wait to run this stuff!

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